HE 

STRANGE 

LITTLE 

GIRL 


A  Story 
for  Children 


r,v.v.  M. 


The  Aryan  Theosophical  Press 
Point  I oma,  Calif oinia,  U.  S.  A. 


Hearst  Fountain 


IN  THE;  GARDEN  OF  BOUGHT 


The  Strange 
Little  Girl 


A  Story  for 
Children 

By  V.  M. 


Illustrations  by  N.  Roth 


^Jryan  ^heosophical   'Press 
'Point  Loma,   California 


COPYRIGHT  1911,  BY  KATHERINE  TINGLEY 


THE  ARYAN  THEOSOPHICAL  PRESS 
Point  Loma,  California 


THE   STRANGE    LITTLE   GIRL 


.  rCJ}£S 


The  Strange  Little  Girl 


i 

NCE  upon  a  time  there  was  a 
beautiful  palace  where  the  king's 
children  lived  as  happily  as  they 
alone  can  live.  They  never  want 
ed  anything  and  they  never  knew 
that  there  could  be  others  who  were  not  as 
happy  as  they.  Sometimes,  it  is  true,  they 
would  hear  a  story  which  would  make  them 
almost  think  that  perhaps  there  was  a  world 
beyond,  which  they  did  not  know,  outside 
the  palace  of  the  king  and  its  gardens,  but 
something  would  seem  to  say  that  after  all 
it  was  only  a  fairy  story,  and  they  would 
forget  that  it  meant  anything  that  might 
really  be  true. 


'2     \,-tfis  ^TRANCE  LITTLE  GIRL 

v  "One  •  "of  -the  little  princesses  seemed  to 
think  more  of  these  stories  of  a  world  be 
yond  the  palace  garden  than  the  others,  and 
she  would  sometimes  find  herself  gazing  at 
the  sun,  and  wondering  if  the  great  world 
lay  beyond  the  purple  forests  where  the 
golden-edged  clouds  shone  like  dark  moun 
tains  in  the  distance.  And  the  name  of  this 
princess  was  Eline. 

More  and  more  as  she  thought  of  these 
things  she  felt  sure  that  there  must  be  a 
world  where  things  were  very  different 
from  the  happy  life  in  the  palace  garden ; 
and  in  the  stories  which  the  children  heard 
she  thought  of  many  things,  which,  with  the 
others,  she  used  to  pass  by  without  notice. 
Once  they  used  to  hear  of  no  sorrow,  no 
pain,  but  only  joy  and  peace.  Now,  in  think 
ing,  she  sometimes  noticed  that  there  were 
things  which  were  not  spoken;  that  there 
were  things  passed  by  in  silence;  that  there 
were  things  which  travelers  passing  through 
the  palace  kept  back,  as  though  they  knew 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL         3 

of  much  which  the  children  must  not  know, 
and  yet  which  they  would  have  told  had 
they  dared. 

Questions  Eline  asked,  and  the  answers 
seldom  satisfied  her,  for  they  never  seemed 
to  tell  her  everything.  Every  time  one  of 
the  travelers  left  the  palace  to  return  on  his 
journey  there  seemed  to  be  a  look  of  appeal 
in  his  eyes,  an  appeal  which  only  Eline 
seemed  to  see,  and  which  made  her  wish  to 
follow  them  for  the  very  love  that  shone  in 
the  kind  faces  of  these  strangers  —  stran 
gers  who  told  the  children  stories  of  things 
they  loved  —  of  wonderful  fairy  worlds 
where  they  were  not  as  in  the  palace;  of 
worlds  where  Eline  seemed  to  have  traveled 
many  times,  long,  long  ago. 

One  day  she  asked  her  father,  the  king: 

"  Shall  I  never  go  out  of  the  palace,  never 
leave  the  garden  of  delight  and  see  the  world 
that  lies  beyond  the  cloud-mountains,  beyond 
the  sunset  and  the  whispering  forests  ?  " 


4  THE   STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

And  the   king  looked   intently  at  Eline. 

"  These  are  strange  fancies,"  he  said. 
"Are  you  not  happy  here  in  the  garden  ?  " 

'  Yes,  I  am  happy,"  she  said,  "  happier 
than  I  can  tell.  But  you  have  not  answered 
me.  Is  there  not  a  world  beyond?  Shall  I 
ever  see  it?  " 

"  Some  traveler  must  have  been  telling 
you  forbidden  tales/'  said  the  king.  "  These 
things  I  have  said  may  not  be  spoken  in  my 
garden." 

"  No  traveler  has  told  me/'  said  Eline. 
"  I  have  seen  them  looking  as  though  they 
would  tell  me,  but  could  not,  of  things  be 
yond  the  garden,  beyond  the  palace.  I  have 
asked  them,  and  they  have  told  me  nothing. 
Yet  I  have  felt  that  I  long  to  go  with  them. 
I  have  felt  that  I  remember  strange  places, 
strange  sights,  things  I  know  not  here,  when 
they  speak.  Sometimes,  even,  it  seems  that 
I  hear  a  voice  like  my  own  repeating  a 
promise  —  a  promise  unfulfilled  that  must 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL         5 

be  kept.  '  I  will  return !  I  will !  I  will ! ' 
it  says.  And  I  hear  voices  calling  in  the 
wind,  in  the  rustling  of  the  leaves,  and  in 
the  silence  of  the  day,  '  Come  back !  Come 
back ! '  And  the  birds  say,  '  Come ! '  The 
pines  whisper  to  me  strange  things,  and  the 
laughing  water  in  the  brooks  says  '  Come ! ' 
What  does  it  mean  ?  " 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  here,"  said  the  king. 
"  But  why  do  you  wish  to  leave  the  palace? 
You  are  yet  young  and  there  are  many, 
many  years  of  happiness  before  you.  You 
may  stay  in  the  palace  where  all  things  are 
good,  and  put  these  things  out  of  mind. 
There  is  another  world,  but  not  for  you  — 
yet!" 

Eline  was  troubled,  or  would  have  been 
had  such  a  thing  been  possible  in  the  palace 
of  the  king. 

"  May  I  ever  see  that  land  ?  May  I  ever 
leave  the  palace?  " 

"  The  children  of  the  king  are   free  to 


6  THE   STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

come  and  go,"  he  said.  "  I  may  not  keep 
them  if  they  will  not  stay;  for  I  know  that 
they  will  come  again." 


II 


Again  a  traveler  came  to  the  palace.  He 
brought  with  him  a  harp  of  seven  strings, 
on  which  he  played  to  the  children.  He 
sang  to  them  for  a  while  and  then  for  a 
space  was  silent.  Eline  listened  to  the 
strange,  beautiful  music.  And  to  her  it 
seemed  that  there  was  speech  in  the  harp 
—  that  it  spoke.  The  other  children  seemed 
to  listen  to  the  music,  but  to  them  it  did  not 
seem  to  speak.  To  Eline  there  were  echoes 
of  wonderful  things  the  palace  knew  not; 
things  that  the  language  of  the  king  could 
not  tell.  The  harp  spoke  in  a  way  that  the 
Princess  Eline  knew  and  understood,  al 
though  there  were  no  words  in  its  tones. 


"  I    WILL   RETURN  " 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL         9 

There  were  sad  and  sorrowful  notes  that 
told  of  sorrows  the  palace  never  knew. 
There  were  strains  of  music  that  sounded 
harsh  to  the  listening  ear,  though  to  the 
careless  they  told  of  happiness  alone.  And 
as  she  listened,  Eline  dreamed.  Clearer  and 
more  clear  she  felt  that  the  harp  told  of  a 
world  of  men  where  sorrow  and  sadness  and 
strife  were  not  unknown ;  where  joy  should 
be,  and  was  not;  where  the  people  groped 
their  way  through  darkness  and  thought  it 
light.  "  Return !  Return !  "  called  the  harp. 

And  a  mighty  resolve  came  to  Eline.  "  I 
will  return!  I  will!  I  will!" 

She  remembered  the  king's  saying :  "  The 
children  of  the  king  are  free  to  come  and 
go/'  he  had  said.  "  I  may  not  keep  them 
if  they  will  not  stay,"  he  had  told  her. 

She  loved  him  much;  but  the  call  came 
clear,  and  she  dared  not  seek  him  to  say 
farewell,  lest  she  should  be  persuaded  to 
remain. 


10          THE    STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

She  bowed  her  head  and  to  the  harper 
spoke : 

"  I  will  go,"  she  said.  "  I  will  return 
with  you.'' 

Then  the  harp  sent  forth  such  a  melody 
of  joyous  music  that  it  echoed  thrilling 
through  the  hot  discordant  notes  of  the 
world  beyond  the  sunset ;  and  for  a  moment 
a  chord  of  harmony  ran  through  the  life 
of  men: 

"Joy  unto  you,  men  of  the  underworld! 
Joy  unto  you,  children  of  sorrow !  Joy  unto 
you,  sons  of  f orgetf ulness !  Joy  unto  all 
beings!" 

They  passed  out  of  the  garden  together, 
the  musician  and  the  soul. 


THROUGH    PJNI3 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL       13 
III 

Westward  they  traveled,  westward,  ever 
westward.  The  way  was  dark  and  some 
times  dreary,  and  Eline  felt  like  one  awak 
ened  from  a  beautiful  dream  before  it  was 
ended. 

Through  the  pine  forests,  over  mountains, 
in  deep  valleys,  and  by  mighty  streams  they 
traveled.  Ever  they  had  the  harp  to  cheer 
the  way,  to  urge  their  footsteps  onward. 
For  the  path  was  untrodden  where  they 
went. 

"  There  is  a  path/'  the  harper  said,  "  a 
pleasant  path  and  broad,  but  the  journey  is 
long  and  we  must  hasten  on  our  way.  To 
the  setting  sun,  to  the  gleaming  sea,  we 
must  go;  nor  may  we  seek  a  beaten  track 
lest  we  be  too  late." 

A  river  there  was  in  whose  waters  were 
reflected  pictures  of  all  that  surrounded 
them  —  such  crystal  clear  reflections  that 
sometimes  it  seemed  as  if  they  looked  at 


14 


THE   STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 


real  things  in  the  water 
mirrored  in  the  things 
around  them. 

And  on  the  waters 
grew  beautiful  lotus- 
flowers,  lilies  with  cup- 
shaped  leaves.  In  the 
blue  and  white  petals 
of  the  lotus  also  there 
seemed  to  be  reflec 
tions,  so  clear  were 
they.  The  musician 
plucked  one  of  the  cup- 
like  lily-pads  and  rilled 
it  with  the  water  for 
Eline. 

The  still  surface  of 
the  water  shone  like 
silver  in  its  green  cup 
as  Eline  held  it.  Then 
the  musician  played. 
Soft  and  low  and  sweet 
were  the  notes  of  that 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL       15 

wonderful  harp.  Scarcely  they  rippled  the 
surface  of  the  water,  and  yet  they  vibrated, 
trembled,  spread,  until  picture  after  picture 
came  to  the  surface  of  the  water  in  colors 
of  every  hue. 

Scarcely  may  it  be  told  what  Eline  saw  in 
the  magic  cup  in  the  water  of  remembrance. 
She  seemed  to  see  herself  —  and  yet  another 
—  in  picture  after  picture.  Now  she  saw 
herself  as  part  of  a  golden  sea  of  selves 
which  made  but  one  self,  so  lifelike  were 
they,  so  glorious  was  their  unity.  Then  in 
life  after  life  Eline  seemed  to  see  her  other 
selves  living  and  loving  and  working,  sleep 
ing  and  suffering  and  struggling.  She  saw 
that  on  a  day  she  had  made  her  great  resolve 
to  help  the  world.  "  I  will  return !  I  will ! 
I  will!" 

And  now  she  knew  what  things  they  were 
she  had  seemed  to  remember  in  the  king's 
garden  of  delight.  Joyously,  eagerly,  will 
ingly,  she  saw  that  she  had  determined  to 
return  to  earth  in  body  after  body,  to  help 


16          THE   STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

the  men  of  sorrow  who  struggled  and  slum 
bered  and  suffered.  She  saw  that  she  had 
before  so  done;  that  her  work  remained 
unfinished,  to  be  begun  again  where  she  had 
laid  it  down.  There  was  suffering  shown 
to  her  in  the  cup;  there  were  sorrow  and 
grief  and  pain.  But  she  saw  that  it  must 
all  be,  and  was  content.  For  at  other  times 
she  had  desired  just  such  things  that  she 
might  know  how  others  felt  them,  that  she 
might  help  them  the  more  with  understand 
ing.  Happiness  she  had  taken  to  give  to 
others,  and  she  must  repay  the  debt.  She 
saw  that  all  things  were  just,  and  when  the 
musician  said  in  a  low  voice: 

"  Will  you  yet  proceed  ?  " 

"I  will!"  she  said. 

"  Then  drink  the  cup,"  he  said,  "  Drink!  " 

She  drained  the  green  cup  of  the  lotus 
leaf  until  scarcely  a  drop  remained,  and  with 
that  draught  she  forgot  all  things  that  had 
been  —  the  garden,  the  king,  the  journey 


THE    STRANGE   LITTLE    GIRL        19 

and  the  vision,  and  the  master  harper  —  all 
were  forgotten.  Only  there  remained  a  dim 
remembrance  as  of  a  dream  at  dawn  for 
gotten. 


IV 


A  little  ship  stood  by  the  shore  of  the 
great  sea;  into  this  Eline  entered.  There 
were  other  ships,  some  better,  some  worse. 
But  somehow  she  knew  that  just  this,  and 
not  another,  was  the  ship  she  wanted,  and 
none  questioned  her  when  she  entered. 

So  they  sailed  away  towards  the  setting 
sun. 

Long  was  the  voyage  and  lonely ;  for  the 
seas  ran  high  and  all  was  dark  below  in  the 
heart  of  the  ship.  Nine  months  they  sailed 
on  the  ocean,  until  in  the  time  appointed 
land  appeared.  Strange  dwellings  were 
there,  domes  and  spires  and  crowded  cities. 
With  wide,  wondering  eyes  Eline  watched 


20          THE   STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

them  as  the  ship  passed  them  by  in  strange 
procession;  for  the  men  of  that  land  were 
like  none  she  knew;  none  of  these  things 
could  she  remember.  For  she  had  forgotten 
even  her  name  at  the  river  of  forgetfulness, 
where  remembrances  are  left  in  the  mirror 
of  the  waters  until  time  and  their  creator 
bring  them  back  to  life. 

It  seemed  as  though  one  of  wise  and 
kindly  countenance  held  her  as  a  little  child 
in  his  arms  and  whispered  softly,  "  Remem 
ber!  I  will  return!  I  will!  I  will!"  A 
light  of  happy  recollection  came  to  her  and 
she  smiled  in  reply.  He  had  spoken  in  her 
own  language  as  the  harp  had  spoken,  and 
strangely,  strangely  she  seemed  to  see  in 
him  the  harper  whose  music  had  told  her 
of  the  sorrowful  land  beyond  the  sunset. 
For  this  moment,  she  remembered,  and  then 
the  thought  departed. 

At  first  the  air  seemed  heavy  and  oppres 
sive  to  the  wanderer;  but  by  degrees  she 
grew  accustomed  to  it  and  even,  in  time, 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL       23 

scarcely  felt  it.  Yet  ever  and  again  a  dim 
remembrance  of  brighter,  purer  skies  came 
to  her.  She  spoke  of  this  more  than  once; 
but  others  only  laughed  and  said:  "The 
child  is  dreaming!  " 

Because  she  was  no  longer  dressed  in 
shining  garments,  they  did  not  know  her 
for  the  princess  she  really  was.  Indeed, 
she  was  no  way  different  from  those  around 
her  but  that  at  heart  she  was  still  the  daugh 
ter  of  the  king.  They  could  not  see  her 
heart  —  this  they  could  not  know.  And 
seeing  that  they  did  not  understand,  she 
said  no  more  of  the  thoughts  that  came  to 
her.  They  called  it  dreaming;  but  Eline 
thought  that  if  this  were  so,  a  dream  were 
better  than  a  waking  life  —  unless  — 

Could  these  be  thoughts  that  came  to  her 
of  the  world  beyond  the  water,  the  reflection 
of  the  real  life?  She  knew  not. 

"  We  must  teach  this  little  dreamer  what 
is  life !  "  they  said.  "  She  will  not  know 


24          THE   STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

what  life  is  if  we  leave  her  to  her  dreams." 

They  made  her  work  and  made  her  play: 
work  that  never  seemed  to  do  anyone  any 
good,  and  play  that  seemed  like  work.  She 
nearly  forgot  that  in  what  they  called  her 
dreams  she  had  ever  known  of  another  life. 

Sometimes  she  sang  to  herself,  strange 
songs  that  they  said  sounded  sad  and  sor 
rowful,  yet  of  a  sweetness  all  their  own. 

"  Where  does  she  hear  them  ?  "  people 
asked. 

But  Eline  never  told.  For  the  truth  was 
that  they  came  to  her  in  moments  when  her 
thoughts  were  far  away,  dreaming. 

"  She  sings  like  a  bird  in  a  cage  that 
knows  of  a  brighter  world  outside,"  said 
one.  But  he  was  a  poet,  so  they  only  smiled 
as  if  they  themselves  would  have  made  the 
same  remark  if  it  had  not  been  so  fanciful. 

And  though  men  thought  her  sad  and 
lonely,  there  was  joy  to  her  in  the  hum  of 
the  bees  and  the  song  of  the  birds  and  the 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL       25 

rustling  of  the  leaves.     The  butterflies  and 
the  flowers  and  the  brooks  were  her  friends. 

"  What  a  strange  child/'  people  said  when 
they  heard  her  talking  to  these  friends. 
They  did  not  know  of  the  stories  her  friends 
told  her,  stories  which  reminded  her  of  a 
wonderful  garden  of  delight  where  men  did 
not  ever  stare  and  stare  in  gaping  wonder 
because  a  little  child  talked  with  the  fairies 
that  live  in  all  things  beautiful,  clothed  in 
robes  of  sunlight  and  rainbow  hues. 

They  would  have  taken  her  away  from 
these  friends  but  for  one  old  man,  her 
grandfather,  who  said: 

"  The  child  will  be  better  for  the  fresh 
air.  Let  her  live  while  she  may." 

So  it  was  that  she  played  and  talked  with 
the  flowers  and  sang  to  the  brooks  and  lis 
tened  to  the  stories  of  the  forest  trees  that 
whispered  among  themselves.  None  dared 
take  her  away. 

One  day  she  had  been  for  a  long  ramble 


26         THE   STRANGE  LITTLE   GIRL 

by  a  mighty  river,  and  the  sun  had  sunk 
to  the  westward  on  its  journey;  but  she 
turned  not  to  the  place  she  called  her  home. 
Tired  and  worn  out  with  her  play,  she  lay 
on  a  rock  and  slept. 

In  her  sleep  it  seemed  that  a  touch  upon 
her  forehead  awakened  in  her  a  vision  of 
things  she  once  had  known,  but  had  now 
almost  forgotten.  There  was  the  king's  gar 
den  and  the  palace,  and  the  other  wonderful 
buildings,  tall  and  stately  —  mighty  build 
ings  which  seemed  to  speak  of  mighty  build 
ers,  noble  thoughts  and  great  men's  deeds. 
Some  were  even  more  stately,  some  more 
humble,  than  the  palace.  But  in  all  there 
was  a  sense  of  grander,  nobler  life  than  the 
life  those  knew  who  were  with  her  now, 
and  who,  laughing,  called  her  a  dreamer. 

And  she  heard  a  voice  repeating,  "  I  will 
return!  I  will!  I  will!" 

Again  she  smiled  as  she  recognized  the 
voice.  A  feeling  of  intense  happiness  and 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL        29 

content  came  to  her  and  she  —  awoke. 
More  than  ever  it  seemed  as  if  that  other 
were  the  real  life,  and  this  a  heavy  dream. 


V 


The  twilight  glow  still  lingered  in  the 
west  and  the  evening  breeze  called  her  to 
thoughts  of  home. 

But  she  had  learned  wisdom,  and  when 
they  asked  her  where  she  had  been,  Eline 
said  she  had  fallen  asleep  in  the  sunshine 
on  a  rock  by  the  great  river.  Which  was 
true. 

Of  her  dream  she  said  nothing  to  any 
except  to  the  old  man  who  alone  seemed  to 
understand  her  a  little.  He  did  not  laugh, 
but  looked  with  thoughtful  eyes  intent,  into 
the  distance,  away  to  the  starlit  sky,  and  it 
seemed  to  her  that  he  also  was  trying  to 
remember  a  forgotten  dream  of  life.  And 
seeing  this  she  put  her  hand  in  his  trusting- 


30          THE   STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

ly,   and  they  two  knew  well   each  other's 
thoughts  though  never  a  word  was  spoken. 

It  seemed  to  the  old  man  that  the  child 
was  leading  him  along  a  familiar  road  to  a 
home  forgotten  —  after  many  weary  days 
of  wandering. 

"  There  are  some  things  the  heart  can 
say  that  words  can  never  tell,"  he  said  to 
himself  when  she  was  gone.  "  I  think  we 
understand  one  another." 

As  time  passed  by  Eline  came  to  know 
more  and  more  of  that  other  life  and  she 
longed  to  tell  these  things  to  the  people  who 
struggled  and  surged  in  hot  strife  to  win 
the  things  of  the  world  they  knew,  never 
thinking  that  there  was  a  happier,  purer, 
brighter  world.  Some  thought  they  knew 
of  such  a  one;  but  all  except  a  few  made 
it  seem  like  the  one  in  which  they  lived  — 
only  they  made  it  a  little  more  bright  by 
day,  a  little  more  dark  by  night,  and  with 
a  little  more  success  in  the  strife  for  the 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL       31 

things  that  change  and  pass  away.  These 
she  would  tell  of  the  nobler  life  she  knew, 
but  they  listened  not  at  all. 

In  due  time  Eline  was  sent  to  school  to 
learn.  But  her  teachers  found  little  that 
she  did  not  quickly  understand.  For  one 
thing  she  remembered  now  plainly,  how  in 
the  garden  of  delight  everything  that  was 
done  was  well  done  —  were  it  the  telling 
of  a  story  or  the  singing  of  a  song  or  the 
watering  of  the  flowers  that  grew  in  that 
fair  land.  All  was  done  with  a  wonderful 
thoroughness,  and  Eline  now  felt  that  she 
must  do  all  things  in  that  way  or  leave  them 
quite  alone.  But  often  they  would  teach 
Eline  things  about  which  she  seemed  to  care 
little  and  to  understand  as  one  in  a  dream. 
Then  they  would  call  her  attention  to  the 
work  only  to  find  that  she  was  learning  to 
understand  a  great  deal  more  than  they 
themselves  could  tell.  It  was  so  with  num 
bers.  When  they  asked  her  what  the  num 
bers  were  by  name,  she  not  only  named 


32          THE   STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

them  all  but  told  them  why  they  were  so 
named  and  what  each  meant.  And  so  with 
music.  With  every  chord  she  seemed  to  see 
harmonies  of  color,  like  beautiful  pictures 
too  glorious  to  paint.  And  when  she  said 
that  life  itself  to  her  was  music,  Kline's 
teachers  did  not  understand. 

One  said :  "  She  has  learned  these  things 
before  in  another  life." 

Another  declared :  "  She  sees  the  heart 
of  things  where  we  see  only  the  outer  cover 
ing.  She  sees  the  soul,  we  the  body." 

Perhaps  they  both  were  right. 

But  many  gave  other  reasons  for  these 
things  and  all  of  them  were  gravely  dis 
cussed.  But  curiously  enough,  the  two  who 
gave  the  reasons  I  have  told,  were  laughed 
at  and  told  that  such  things  could  not  be. 
So  they  said  little  about  their  thoughts  be 
cause,  like  all  those  who  are  sure  that  they 
know  the  truth,  they  could  afford  to  wait 
until  their  words  were  proved  to  be  right. 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL       33 

VI 

At  first  Eline  longed  to  tell  the  world  of 
better  things.  She  would  gladly  have  told 
the  world  of  the  glorious  masonry  of  those 
noble  cities  which  she  saw  in  her  visions  — 
cities  where  men  and  women  moved  like 
gods;  where  sorrow  and  want  and  selfish 
ness  seemed  to  be  unknown.  She  longed  to 
tell  them  of  the  harmonies  which  came  to 
her  of  music  which  might  stir  a  dead  world 
to  life,  thrilling  all  nature  into  blossoms  and 
fruits  in  abundance,  as  the  music  of  a  water 
fall  seems  to  send  life  into  the  flowers  which 
grow  beside.  She  would  have  told  them  of 
the  colors  with  which  nature  loves  to  paint 
the  sky,  the  mountains  and  valleys,  sea  and 
land,  when  all  is  ready  for  the  master's 
work.  For  nature  paints  wherever  the  can 
vas  is  prepared  to  receive  the  picture,  and 
she  asks  no  price  for  her  work.  Eline  knew 
of  times  in  the  past  —  times  that  will  come 
again  —  when  man  did  not  ever  strive  to 


34        THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL 

be  rich  regardless  of  his  poorer  brothers, 
but  each  worked  as  he  was  able,  all  work- 
ing  for  the  whole  world's  good.  And  she 
would  have  told  them  how  in  those  times 
man  did  not  earn  his  living  by  toil  unend 
ing,  by  ceaseless  pain  and  sorrow,  but  that 
nature  helped  him  as  he  helped  her,  and  the 
earth  brought  out  her  stores  of  rich  fruits 
for  the  welfare  of  her  upgrown  sons,  well 
knowing  that  they  in  turn  with  loving  ser 
vice  would  seek  to  make  nobler  and  better 
that  which  nature  gave  to  them  in  charge, 
birds  and  beasts,  flowers  and  trees,  plants 
and  stones  and  all  that  lives  —  which  is 
everything. 

Eline  saw  how  the  desire  to  possess  more 
than  enough,  for  the  selfish  pleasure  of  say 
ing,  "  It  is  mine !  " —  how  the  growth  of 
selfishness  in  the  world;  the  love  of  killing 
nature's  younger  sons  for  food  and  pleasure 
increased;  how  the  love  of  ease  and  forget- 
fulness  of  others  and  of  duty  to  mother 
nature  —  how  all  these  things  had  chilled 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL       35 

the  warmth  of  the  one  great  life  that  is  in 
all  things,  and  crippled  the  mother's  efforts 
to  help  her  wayward  sons. 

Others  had  told  these  things ;  others  had 
striven  to  show  the  glorious  light  of  life 
that  shines  behind  the  cold  mist  of  sin  and 
sorrow  which  has  been  cast  like  a  veil  over 
the  earth;  but  all  had  been  rejected.  Some 
were  ill-received;  some  were  stoned;  some 
were  killed. 

"  How  can  I  raise  this  humanity  which 
like  a  great  orphan  has  cut  itself  off  from 
its  mother  and  now  lies  ignorant  of  the 
happiness  that  awaits  its  coming?  "  thought 
Eline.  "  I  have  returned  to  tell  them  of 
the  way,  and  they  will  not  hear.  Others 
have  returned  as  far  as  they  might  and 
have  been  rejected.  Others  still  have  boldly 
plunged  deeper  yet  in  the  hot  sea  of  human 
life  and  have  been  lost  in  its  poisonous 
fumes.  Even  so,  I  will  again  return,  yet 
lower,  if  by  chance  there  be  a  few  who  will 
not  reject  my  message/' 


36         THE   STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

VII 

So  Eline  hid  in  her  heart  the  things  she 
knew  and  the  things  she  would  have  told, 
as  she  had  hidden  in  her  soul  at  the  river 
of  forgetfulness  the  memory  of  the  king's 
garden  of  delight.  And  she  took  her  way 
into  the  world  with  messages  of  love  and 
of  hope,  such  simple  messages  as  the  child 
ren  understood,  better  sometimes  than  their 
elders.  She  told  the  children  many  beauti 
ful  fairy  stories  and  they  listened  eagerly. 
They  did  not  know  that  these  were  the 
stories  which  she  had  told  to  the  learned 
ones  of  the  earth  and  which  were  really 
true,  though  they  had  not  believed. 

The  children  listened,  and  they  said :  "  It 
is  beautiful.  Some  day  we  will  seek  out 
such  a  beautiful  world  as  that  of  which  the 
stories  tell." 

There  were  houses,  too,  which  they  built 
—  little  toy  houses  with  toy  bricks.  But 
Eline  showed  them  how  to  shape  the  bricks 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL       39 

and  how  to  make  each  brick  fit  in  its  proper 
place  so  that  never  a  one  shoulcf  lose  its 
worth.  And  Eline  showed  the  children  how 
that  behind  the  building  of  beautiful  man 
sions  there  was  the  beautiful  thought  that 
made  the  masonry  so  noble  a  work,  though 
it  were  only  toy  masonry.  And  the  children 
understood. 

In  their  games  they  had  done  each  his 
best  and  they  did  well.  But  Eline  showed 
them  games  in  which  they  all  acted  together, 
even  the  little  ones  helping  and  sharing.  It 
was  wonderful  to  them  that  they  had  not 
thought  of  this  before,  because  now  they 
found  that  they  could  do  more  than  ever 
they  had  done  when  each  worked  alone  and 
for  himself. 

Near  the  city  where  they  dwelt  was  a 
vast  plain  full  of  great  boulders,  which  they 
could  have  made  into  a  great  park  and  a 
beautiful  garden;  but  the  people  of  the  city 
cared  not  for  such  things  and  would  not 
help  them.  By  themselves  they  knew  not 


40         THE   STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

how  to  move  the  rocks.  So  it  remained  a 
waste  of  wild  growth,  except  in  those  places 
where  the  children  had  moved  one  by  one, 
and  with  great  difficulty,  the  smaller  stones. 

Now  Eline  bid  them  take  a  strong  rope. 
"  For/'  said  she,  "  we  will  clear  that  plain, 
and  it  shall  be  for  a  dwelling  and  a  garden 
for  all."  She  was  thinking  of  the  king's 
garden. 

The  children  looked  at  her  in  astonish 
ment  as  though  they  wondered  if  she  meant 
the  thing  she  said. 

"  We  have  no  rope,"  they  said,  "  and  none 
will  give  us  any." 

"  There  is  your  rope,"  said  Eline,  point 
ing  out  the  overgrown  plain,  where,  amid 
the  rocks  in  the  great  patches  from  which 
they  had  slowly  and  painfully  drawn  the 
smaller  stones,  grew  masses  of  pale  blue 
flowers,  beautiful,  delicate  little  blossoms, 
like  wind-flowers. 

Again  the  children  looked  at  her,  ques- 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL       41 

tioningly ;  not  as  the  peo 
ple  at  first  had  done,  but 
trustingly,  though  they 
knew  not  what  she  would 
have  them  do,  but  sought 
to  learn  her  wishes. 

So  at  her  bidding  they 
gathered  all  the  ripened 
stalks  of  the  little  flowers 
and  laid  them  out  in  the 
sun  as  she  directed. 

Almost  it  seemed  a 
pity  to  destroy  the  plants. 
One  little  worker  asked 
Eline  of  this  matter  for 
he  loved  the  flowers  and 
was  sorry  to  see  them 
gathered  and  dried. 

"  Does  it  not  hurt  the 
flowers  to  pluck  them?" 
he  asked.  "  Some  say 
that  you  can  talk  with 


42          THE   STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

them  as  with  all  living  things,  and  you  can 
tell  if  the  flowers  do  not  suffer  in  the  gather 
ing,  although  they  are  old  and  ripe." 

His  was  a  loving  heart  and  Eline  saw 
that  he  asked  this  out  of  no  mere  curiosity. 
Gently  she  touched  his  forehead  with  her 
finger. 

"  Look!  "  she  said.  "  Look  and  listen,  for 
I  have  opened  the  seeing  eye  to  you/7 

VIII 

And  the  boy  looked  around  in  wonder 
ment,  amazed,  and  saw  that  the  whole  great 
plain  was  full  of  teeming  life  which  he  had 
not  before  seen.  Fairies  and  elves  peeped 
from  every  flower,  gnomes  and  earthmen 
worked  and  played  and  danced  among  the 
boulders.  And  where  before  was  silence 
but  for  the  rustling  of  the  leaves  in  the 
breeze,  there  rose  a  murmur  of  many  voices, 
like  the  humming  of  bees  in  the  sunshine. 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL       43 

The  boy  listened  and  at  once  he  knew  what 
the  flowers  were  whispering. 

"  There  is  a  saying  that  the  flax-people 
are  being  used  for  a  mighty  work,"  said 
one  little  blue  fairy  to  another. 

"  I  heard  a  bee  spreading  the  news,"  said 
another.  "All  the  flax-people  are  asked  to 
give  their  dresses  to  help  in  clearing  the 
plain  for  a  palace  and  a  garden  where  kings 
may  dwell  —  not  kings  of  earth  and  of  little 
cities,  but  kings  of  wisdom  whom  nature 
loves  to  obey,  and  we  among  her  children." 

"  Body  after  body  have  I  grown,"  said 
the  other.  "  I  have  struggled  and  striven 
to  grow  useful  in  this  glorious  brotherhood 
of  nature,  and  my  only  success  seems  to 
be  that  I  have  a  pretty  head.  It  is  good 
to  be  beautiful,  perhaps,  but  I  have  always 
thought  that  I  would  sacrifice  my  beauty 
for  a  chance  of  sharing  in  noble  deeds." 

A  butterfly  that  had  stopped  to  listen 
now  spoke  to  her: 


44          THE   STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

(  You  have  waited  and  now  you  will  have 
your  reward.  For  surely  your  body  will  be 
taken  to  help  in  the  work  that  is  going  for 
ward.  The  flax-people  have  indeed  lived  to 
good  purpose." 

'  They  certainly  do  not  seem  afraid  to 
die,"  said  the  boy  to  himself. 

And  as  if  in  answer  to  his  whispered 
thought  the  little  flax-fairy  said: 

"Of  course  we  are  not  afraid!  I  have 
been  told  that  there  are  giants  of  men  who 
really  think  that  when  they  leave  their  worn- 
out  stalks  —  bodies  they  call  them  —  behind, 
they  live  no  more,  or  at  least  are  not  sure 
what  becomes  of  themselves.  But  it  can 
not  be  true  —  it  must  be  a  fairy  story !  " 
laughed  the  little  elf.  "  They  must  know, 
as  we  know,  that  all  things  sleep  awhile  and 
then  take  new  bodies  like  dresses  woven 
while  they  worked  in  Their  last  awaking 
which  men  call  life.  And  then  one  day  we 
know  that  we  shall  have  woven  dresses  so 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL       45 

fine  that  we  shall  be  free  to  leave  them  as 
the  butterfly  leaves  his  dull-hued  robes  and 
spreads  his  bright  wings  for  flight  into  the 
grand  unknown  which  we  all  long  to  know." 

"  But  how  do  you  know  that  these  things 
are  so  ?  "  asked  the  boy. 

"  How  do  I  know  that  I  am  alive?  "  an 
swered  the  flax-fairy  in  a  murmur.  Faint 
er  grew  the  voices  and  the  vision  faded 
from  the  boy's  sight. 

He  knew  not  how  long  it  was  he  stayed 
there,  but  after  awhile  he  awoke  with  a 
start  to  find  that  Eline  was  no  longer  with 
him,  and  that  he  had  slept  among  the  flax 
in  the  sunshine. 


IX 


"  It  must  have  been  a  dream !  "  he  said. 
But  he  did  not  believe  it  was  a  dream  — 
for  all  his  words.  And  really  the  flowers 
seemed  to  him  to  bear  a  new  life  after  that 


46         THE   STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

wonderful  vision  which  came  to  him  when 
Eline  gave  him  for  an  hour  the  seeing  eye. 

Working  with  the  others  joyfully  and 
happily  without  a  moment's  pause  or  one 
thought  of  failure,  they  saw  quickly  grow 
ing  an  immense  heap  of  beautiful  fine  white 
thread.  The  children  had  helped  the  flax  to 
grow  and  now  in  turn  it  aided  them  to  clear 
more  ground. 

For  in  no  long  time  all  was  finished  and 
before  them  they  had  a  mighty  rope  grow 
ing  greater  every  day  under  their  Leader's 
eye. 

One  strange  thing  there  was  about  the 
rope.  For  there  were  golden  threads  inter 
woven  which  the  children  did  not  remember 
having  seen  among  the  flax.  And  they 
wondered. 

But  Eline  only  said  "  It  is  golden  flax." 

•.* 
Whatever  it  was,   it  shone  brightly  in 

the  sun  until  it  looked  like  a  ray  of  real  sun 
light  in  the  rope. 


*sm 


MAKING   ROPIC 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL       49 

One  little  child  said: 

"  It  looks  like  a  brother  to  the  sun !  " 

"  Perhaps  it  is,"  said  Eline,  and  smiled. 

The  work  grew  apace.  And  the  play  grew 
apace,  because  the  children  scarcely  knew 
which  was  work  and  which  was  play.  They 
seemed  to  have  found  something  better  than 
both.  Stone  after  stone,  rock  after  rock, 
was  encircled  with  the  cord  and  triumphant 
ly  drawn  by  that  merry  army  of  children  to 
the  edge  of  the  plain.  Clearer  and  clearer 
grew  the  space.  Where  before  the  stones 
had  been,  little  pools  of  water  formed,  while 
round  them  grew  masses  of  beautiful  flow 
ers,  among  which  was  a  new  crop  of  the 
little  blue  flax,  stronger  and  better  grown 
than  any  that  had  been  there  before.  Grad 
ually  there  grew  up  a  great  wall  of  rock 
around  the  plain  where  the  boulders  were 
drawn  by  the  children,  for  each  was  taken 
to  its  nearest  boundary,  as  Eline  told  them 
this  would  be  the  simplest  way  to  clear  the 
plain. 


50         THE   STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

Some  mighty  rocks  yet  remained  in  the 
center  of  the  plain  but  the  children  had  so 
seen  the  wisdom  of  their  leader  that  they 
doubted  not  that  these  too  would  be  removed 
without  difficulty,  although  how  this  was  to 
be  done  they  could  not  tell. 

And  as  the  work  was  nearing  an  end  they 
did  as  their  Leader  bid  them  in  perfect  trust. 
Actually  they  put  their  ropes  around  a  rock 
which  some  said  was  like  a  small  mountain. 
They  pulled  with  a  will,  but  the  rock  moved 
not. 

Still  they  pulled  willingly  and  with  all 
their  might,  for  now  they  had  grown  strong 
until  they  scarcely  knew  their  own  powers. 

From  the  great  city,  from  the  mountains, 
and  from  the  country  round  about,  came 
sightseers  and  inquirers.  At  first  they  only 
laughed  and  talked,  and  helped  not  at  all. 
But  among  them  came  men  of  strange  coun 
tenance,  strong  men,  wise  in  looks,  men  of 
kingly  bearing. 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL       53 

These  said :  "  It  is  not  right  that  these 
children  should  work  for  ever  alone/' 

And  they  too,  with  strong  grip  of  a 
strange  sort,  laid  hold  of  the  golden  ropes, 
seeing  which,  the  idlers  too  came  and  helped 
until  with  a  mighty  song  of  joy  the  children 
saw  the  great  rock  move,  slowly  at  first, 
then  faster,  faster,  until  with  a  run  they 
had  placed  it  in  a  far  corner  of  the  great 
plain,  standing  like  a  sentinel  to  the  North. 


X 


Another  and  yet  others  followed.  East 
and  South  and  West  the  unhewn  boulders 
stood  like  guardians  of  the  plain.  A  circle 
of  twelve  yet  remained  in  the  center,  like 
giant  pillars  supporting  the  sky.  But  these 
Eline  said  should  stand,  as  also  some  small 
er  ones  which  were  placed  across  their  tops 
like  great  beams  resting  upon  a  doorway. 


54         THE   STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

How  this  was  done  I  cannot  say;  but  there 
is  a  saying  in  the  city  that,  in  the  night 
before  they  were  found  placed  high  above 
the  giant  circle,  the  sound  of  a  great  and 
joyous  song,  a  hymn  of  power,  was  heard 
like  the  tones  of  a  great  bell  shaking  the 
houses  with  its  vibrations  and  putting  men 
in  fear  of  the  destruction  of  their  city.  But 
at  sunset  the  children  had  not  returned  from 
the  plain,  so  that  they  were  not  in  the  city 
when  this  happened.  And  not  until  the  sun 
rise  did  the  people  flock  to  the  doors  and 
windows  for  a  glimpse  of  the  joyous  army 
that  marched  in  their  streets.  Led  by  the 
men  of  kingly  bearing  the  children  marched, 
singing  a  song  of  triumph,  with  such  shin 
ing  glory  in  their  faces  that  all  the  people 
marveled. 

Tired  they  were,  and  slept;  but  when  in 
the  late  noontide  the  people  asked  them  what 
had  happened,  all  seemed  like  the  forgotten 
glory  of  a  dream.  They  could  remember 
little  except  that  they  were  filled  with  the 


THE    STRANGE   LITTLE    GIRL        55 

joy  of  wonderful  things  which  no  tongue 
could  tell. 

The  work  had  not  taken  one  day,  or  two, 
but  many  days.  Months  and  even  years  had 
passed  since  the  children  played  together  in 
the  sunshine.  Strong  and  sturdy  lads  and 
lasses  were  they  now.  A  beautiful  temple 
had  arisen  within  the  giant  circle,  and  all 
around  it  was  a  garden  of  beauty  like  no 
garden  which  they  had  seen. 

But  when  Eline  looked  amid  the  rare 
flowers  and  found  a  little  purple  star  with 
heart  of  gold,  she  knew  that  it  was  a  flower 
from  the  king's  garden,  and  she  was  glad 
that  it  could  grow  where  all  was  rock  be 
fore.  There  were  great  purple  pansies,  too, 
like  thoughts  from  the  palace  in  which  Eline 
had  lived. 

Now  it  was  that  the  children  came  to  the 
temple  to  learn  of  Eline,  and  she  taught 
them  the  wonderful  truths  which  she  knew; 
to  them  she  told  the  wonderful  things  that 
have  been  and  the  more  wonderful  things 


56        THE    STRANGE   LITTLE   GIRL 

that  may  be,  if  men  will  only  try  to  bring 
them  about. 

She  taught  them  things  so  simple  that 
they  often  wondered  why  they  had  not  al 
ready  known  them  without  the  telling.  They 
did  not  know  that  there  was  a  good  reason 
why  it  should  be  so.  Eline  taught  them,  too, 
how  by  all  working  together  for  the  welfare 
and  progress  of  all,  there  is  no  task  we  may 
not  overcome. 

"  We  know  it,"  said  the  children,  remem 
bering  the  waste  of  rocks  in  the  plain  where 
now  the  garden  stood  and  the  temple. 

"  Each  by  himself  can  do  much,  but  all 
working  together  can  move  the  world,"  she 
said.  "  Now  I  will  tell  you  a  strange  thing, 
which  is  yet  true.  For  we  are  not  at  all 
separate  from  any  other  thing  in  the  world, 
but  the  same  nature  is  in  us  as  in  them  — 
in  the  rocks  and  the  flowers,  in  the  forests 
and  streams,  in  city  and  mountain,  in  air 
and  fire  and  water,  just  as  the  rocks  and 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL        57 

this  temple  are  of  the  same  stone,  although 
they  differ  in  shape.  And  if  we  only  will, 
we  can  make  all  our  rocks  into  beautiful, 
glorious  temples. 

"  When  the  world  of  men  has  learned 
this  lesson  the  earth  itself  will  become  a 
mighty  temple,  that  the  wise  teachers  of  old, 
whom  men  call  gods,  may  come  to  us  again 
and  live  with  us  in  peace  for  evermore. 

"And  it  shall  be  known  that  music  is  life, 
for  in  music  is  harmony,  and  by  harmony 
all  things  live,  each  note  in  its  own  place, 
doing  its  perfect  work,  be  it  great  or  small. 
For  this  too  is  a  brotherhood  of  harmony." 

Because  in  those  days  the  people  listened 
to  the  teachings  from  the  temple  and  to  the 
great  ones  who  came  to  dwell  therein  when 
it  was  finished,  and  who  taught  the  seekers 
after  truth,  through  their  messenger  Eline, 
there  were  happiness  and  joy  and  peace  in 
all  the  land.  Men  became  nobler  as  they 
thought  of  nobler  things  than  had  hitherto 
been  their  custom. 


58        THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL 

Seeing  the  beauty  of  the  temple  and  the 
mighty  work  that  comes  of  aiding  nature, 
working  in  unity  and  harmony,  they  also 
built  their  houses  to  be  like  the  temple. 
Stone  they  used  for  brick,  beautiful  they 
built  them  within  and  without,  and  they 
labored  to  make  their  dwellings  fit  temples 
for  the  gods.  For  it  was  said  among  them 
that  sometimes  strangers  would  visit  their 
city,  and  seeking  entrance,  would  dwell  with 
them  awhile  where  they  found  a  welcome. 
And  it  was  noticed  that  always  they  came 
to  such  dwellings  as  those  where  the  beauty 
and  harmony  of  the  building  showed  beauty 
and  harmony  within.  And  when  they  left 
the  house,  always  there  seemed  to  remain  a 
memory  of  their  presence  as  a  ray  of  light 
at  sunset  leaves  a  memory  of  joyous  days 
and  a  sense  of  hope  for  brighter  days  yet 
to  come. 

When  this  thing  happened  the  neighbors 
would  gather  together  and  it  was  said: 

"  The  Master  has  built  the  house." 


THE    STRANGE   LITTLE    GIRL        59 

Then  the  great  beam  which  rested  on  the 
pillars  of  the  doors  was  lifted  and  where  it 
had  stood  was  built  an  arch  of  stone.  And 
last  of  all  was  dropped  in  place  the  keystone 
which  held  the  arch,  and  there  was  great 
rejoicing,  for  the  people  said :  "  The  house 
is  finished."  Some  there  were  who  would 
have  lifted  the  beam  and  built  the  arch,  but 
unless  the  Master  had  been  in  the  house, 
always  some  accident  would  occur  and  the 
house  be  destroyed. 

In  the  center  of  the  arch  was  placed  a 
great  light  which  was  ever  kept  burning, 
for  it  was  fed  with  oil  of  gold  which  never 
burns  away,  but  whose  smoke  ever  turns  to 
oil  again.  Each  light  was  like  the  greater 
light  which  ever  shone  from  the  dome  of 
the  temple,  a  light  to  lighten  all  around, 
such  light  as  it  was  said  went  out  to  the 
world  from  the  temple  itself  in  the  know 
ledge  of  the  laws  of  life  and  of  all  things 
good  and  great  and  beautiful.  Never  was 
the  light  to  be  put  out,  lest  harm  should 


60        THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL 

come.     Day  and  night  it  was  held  a  sacred 
duty  to  guard  the  light. 

When  that  light  shone  there  was  peace 
and  plenty  in  the  land,  for  fellowship  made 
life  joyful.  Some  called  that  glorious  time 
the  Golden  Age;  some  there  are  even  now 
among  us  who  will  to  bring  that  golden  age 
again  to  earth  as  then,  through  brotherhood 
and  the  joy  of  life,  that  misery  shall  not 
always  be  among  us,  nor  poverty,  sorrow, 
and  pain. 


XI 


But  there  came  a  day  when  messengers 
from  far  off  lands  came  over  sea  a  great 
journey  to  the  temple.  And  to  Eline  they 
told  the  despair  and  want  and  the  madness 
of  unbrotherliness  that  men  knew  in  the 
countries  whence  they  came,  countries  where 
the  light  shone  no  longer.  Of  wars  and  of 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL        63 

famines  they  spoke,  of  poverty,  oppression, 
and  crime. 

Kline's  great  compassion  could  not  be 
silent  to  appeal.  "  From  these  things,  I  say 
Humanity  SHAU,  be  saved !  "  said  she.  "  I 
have  a  duty  here,  but  there  are  guardians  in 
the  Temple,  and  the  call  comes  loud  to  me 
from  the  world  beyond.  I  will  go !  " 

Those  messengers  heard  with  joy  of  the 
success  of  their  journey,  for  they  had  trav 
eled  far  and  had  overcome  many  trials  and 
difficulties  by  the  way.  And  all  the  time 
they  had  hoped  in  perfect  faith  that  they 
would  return  with  some  encouragement  to 
the  country  whence  they  came.  And  doubt 
less  it  was  because  of  the  grand  faith  they 
showed  that  Eline  herself  answered  their 
call. 

"  Guard  well  the  temple  while  I  am  away," 
Eline  charged  her  people.  "  I  must  travel 
far,  but  in  no  long  time  I  will  return !  — •  I 
will  return!  Be  watchful,  therefore,  that 


64        THE    STRANGE   LITTLE    GIRL 

the  light  be  burning,  that  the  oil  fade  not. 
None  can  tell  the  time  of  the  coming,  whe 
ther  it  be  by  night  or  day.  With  your  lives 
must  you  guard  the  light ! " 

She  spoke  somewhat  sadly  as  it  seemed 
to  them,  and  they  supposed  she  thought  of 
the  great  misery  and  need  of  those  she  went 
to  succor  in  their  distress. 

And  they  answered  the  more  eagerly: 
"We  will!    We  will!" 

For  the  first  time  since  it  had  been  built 
the  temple  was  left  without  its  head  —  a 
sacred  trust  indeed. 

They  thought  they  knew  themselves ;  they 
thought  they  knew  the  evil  in  their  natures, 
and  the  good,  did  those  temple  watchers. 

And  in  their  surety  of  knowing  they  grew 
careless,  so  that  in  no  long  time  they  lost 
their  caution.  Some  there  were  who  were 
faithless,  and  these  began  to  tell  them  of 
their  great  success ;  how  they  had  built  the 


THE    STRANGE   LITTLE    GIRL        65 

temple;  how  their  industry  and  labor  had 
succeeded;  how  well  they  had  learned  to 
know  themselves.  Gently  they  suggested 
these  things,  gently  these  sayings  took  root, 
almost  unperceived. 

"  Our  temple  which  we  have  built  is  very 
mighty.  It  can  never  fall/'  they  said. 

Some  few  there  were  who  would  have 
spoken  for  Eline,  but  they  were  timid  and 
afraid  of  those  who  talked  so  boastfully. 
Wherefore  they  were  silent.  It  is  true  that 
one  or  two  attempted  to  recall  the  noble 
deeds  of  the  absent  one,  and  to  point  out 
that  she  had  really  built  the  temple;  they 
had  supplied  only  the  labor;  yet  the  fruits 
of  it  were  theirs  and  the  world's. 

"True,"  said  the  wicked  and  faithless 
ones,  "she  had  a  great  mind  for  building; 
but  she  made  mistakes.  She  herself  said  so. 
We  have  learned  by  those  mistakes  and  we 
know.  She  would  have  made  the  temple 
teachings  too  common  altogether.  Why,  she 


66        THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL 

actually  began  to  turn  into  a  teacher  of  vir 
tues  of  which  the  world  is  weary,  instead  of 
building  as  at  first.  She  had  taught  all  she 
knew,  but  we  can  teach  greater  things,  and 
better  things ;  we  can  teach  the  world  twenty 
different  styles  of  building  in  metals,  wood, 
stone,  and  marble ;  of  ornaments  and  decor 
ations  enough  to  last  for  a  century.  Thus 
we  honor  her;  thus  we  carry  on  her  work 
and  make  it  grow  —  although  she  made  mis 
takes." 

"  Indeed  she  did  make  mistakes/7  said 
one,  "and  the  greatest  mistake  of  all  was 
when  she  chose  such  faithless  craftsmen  for 
the  temple  work.  Shame  on  you !  " 

"  O  faithful  one !  "  said  they.  "  Such  faith 
deserves  a  great  reward.  To  you  we  will 
entrust  the  duty  of  finding  her.  We  will 
give  you  all  you  need  for  the  voyage  —  a 
ship  and  provisions  enough  for  a  year !  " 


ADRIFT  ON  THE:  SE;A 


THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL        69 

XII 

So  those  treacherous  ones  cast  adrift  on 
the  ocean  the  one  who  remained  faithful. 
And  those  others  who  would  have  spoken 
out  for  their  absent  Teacher  were  silenced 
against  their  own  better  natures.  For  those 
wicked  ones  had  been  great  among  them, 
and  they  were  afraid. 

It  was  thought  that  in  no  long  time  the 
winds  and  the  waves  would  destroy  the  little 
ship  with  its  lonely  voyager ;  yet  with  stout 
heart,  knowing  that  he  might  not  return 
alone,  he  held  on  fearless  and  determined. 
Sometimes  it  seems  that  those  who  so  follow 
the  voice  of  their  inner  wisdom  in  dauntless 
courage  are  helped  by  nature,  as  though  she 
ever  loves  such  brave  hearts.  I  have  heard 
the  story  told  how  the  great  Columbus  who 
found  a  new  world  was  beset  by  his  follow 
ers  to  return.  How  nature  sent  him  mes 
sages  that  he  was  nearing  land  —  birds  and 
driftwood,  branches  of  trees  and  floating 


70       THE    STRANGE   LITTLE    GIRL 

weed.  He  read  the  message  with  the  eyes 
of  one  who  loves  all  nature  well,  and  prom 
ised  sight  of  land  to  his  men  in  three  days, 
a  promise  that  was  fulfilled. 

So  it  was  that  the  little  ship  with  the  one 
who  remained  faithful  did  a  greater  work 
than  ever  those  desired  who  sent  it. 

Slowly,  slowly,  in  the  Temple,  it  came 
about  that  the  guardians  forgot  their  duty, 
forgot  that  they  were  there  to  guard  the 
temple  in  sacred  trust  for  humanity;  and 
as  the  wicked  ones  among  them  wished,  they 
busied  themselves  about  many  things;  but 
not  the  one  thing  needful,  the  welfare  and 
the  progress  of  mankind. 

How  can  the  tale  be  told?  A  tale  that  is 
new,  yet  old  —  old  beyond  count  of  years. 

For  the  enemies  of  the  world,  with  whom 
those  wicked  ones  were  leagued,  came  sud 
denly  by  night,  when  the  sacred  lamp  which 
sent  rays  of  hope  over  the  great  ocean  was 
allowed  to  flicker  and  to  go  out.  And  those 


THE    STRANGE   LITTLE    GIRL        71 

enemies  destroyed  the  temple  so  that  scarce 
ly  one  stone  remained  upon  another.  And 
with  it  were  destroyed  those  weak  ones  who 
failed  in  their  trust.  All  perished  and  with 
them  perished  for  a  time  the  Light  of  the 
World. 


XIII 

It  is  said,  how  truly  I  know  not,  that 
beneath  the  foundation  pillars  of  the  temple 
was  wisely  prepared  by  Eline  a  vault,  a  vast 
cave  wherein  were  hidden  the  most  sacred 
records  of  the  temple  and  the  sacred  secret 
name  which  they  had  forgotten. 

To  her  over  the  sea  came  the  knowledge 
of  the  faithless  guard,  and  in  her  agony  she 
called  upon  that  sacred  name  if  by  chance 
the  temple  should  be  saved. 

In  days  of  old  men  knew  that  there  is  a 
power  in  words,  a  power  now  forgotten. 
Stories  there  are  which  tell  of  city  walls  fall- 


72        THE    STRANGE    LITTLE    GIRL 

ing  at  a  trumpet  blast,  of  cities  rising  as  if 
by  magic  at  a  word,  of  mighty  doors  thrown 
open,  of  nature  spellbound  by  a  song,  of 
mighty  names  the  jinns  and  genii  of  the 
desert  obey. 

And  this  sacred  name  was  such  a  one  as 
these;  for  with  its  whispering  a  mighty 
thrill  passed  out  over  the  world  and  the 
foundations  of  the  sea  were  shaken.  Vast 
continents  were  destroyed,  and  men  said  the 
world  was  at  an  end.  Terrible  was  the 
time,  but  Eline  knew  that  it  was  better  so; 
for  the  remnant  of  the  living  might  one  day 
restore  the  ancient  glory  of  that  land.  But 
had  it  been  that  the  land  remained,  those 
wicked  ones  would  have  lived  and  worked 
to  destroy  the  whole  world  so  that  not  even 
a  remnant  should  be  left  in  the  bosom  of  the 
waters  to  re-people  the  earth. 

After  many  days,  tossed  and  beaten  by 
the  waves,  the  little  ship  with  the  outcast 
faithful  one  came  drifting  to  the  land  where 
Eline  was. 


THE    STRANGE   LITTLE    GIRL        73 

The  winds  and  the  sea  conspired,  as  it 
seemed,  to  urge  the  ship  on  her  voyage,  and 
the  dwellers  of  the  ocean  pointed  the  way, 
watchful  ever  and  untiring  in  their  duty. 
Small  as  it  was,  and  ill-found,  Eline  chose 
this  ship  for  her  return,  and  once  again  she 
came  to  the  place  where  the  temple  had 
stood  —  she  and  that  faithful  one. 

She  gazed  on  the  ruins  of  that  sacred 
spot  and  sadly  looked  at  the  tops  of  the 
mighty  pillars  just  rising  above  the  waves 
of  the  sea  which  at  times  filled  the  arches 
in  between  so  that  no  man  might  pass  be 
neath. 

Unseen  guards  there  were,  Eline  knew, 
guards  who  would  keep  that  spot  free  for 
future  generations  of  a  world  to  come. 
Water-nymphs,  sea-sprites,  and  earth-gob 
lins,  undines,  gnomes,  and  sylphs  dwelt  there 
as  sentinels  of  a  sacred  trust,  and  Eline  was 
content  to  go. 

"  For/7  she  said,  "  the  secret  vault  of  the 


74       THE    STRANGE   LITTLE    GIRL 

sacred  name  yet  stands  intact  until  these 
same  faithless  ones  shall  come  again,  puri 
fied  by  many  wanderings  and  trials,  and 
shall  again  guard  that  new-old  temple  with 
me.  That  time  they  shall  not  fail!" 

And  a  ray  of  glorious  hope  shone  in  her 
face  as  she  left  the  ruined  temple. 

"I  will  return!"  she  said.     "I  will  re 
turn!" 


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